Program Overview

Programme: PGDip (Tropical Medicine and Health)

Programme Information

This diploma programme extends over two academic years. Students may, with the approval of the Head of the Department of Public Health Medicine or the Chairperson of the School of Health Systems and Public Health, offer it over one year.

Admission Requirements

1. MBChB (or equivalent) degree
2. Completed internship of at least one year
3. Professional work experience (post-internship) of at least one year
4. Currently registered as a medical practitioner with the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA)

Examinations and Pass Requirements

Students must attend all lectures and practical classes to the satisfaction of the head of department or the Chairperson of the School before they will be admitted to the examinations. Written, oral and/or practical examinations must be passed in all the modules. All diploma programme summative assessments will be externally moderated. The minimum pass mark for prescribed modules and the summative assessment is 50%. Only with the approval of the Chairperson of the School, on the recommendation of the head of department, will a student be allowed to continue his or her studies after having failed two modules (or the same module twice). A second examination in a module (including the diploma-specific summative assessment) is arranged in conjunction with the head of department.

Pass with Distinction

A diploma is awarded with distinction to a student who has obtained a mark of at least 75% for the externally moderated assessment component as well as a simple (unweighted) average of at least 75% of all the marks for the other required modules for the relevant diploma.

General Information

Concurrent Registration for Two Study Programmes

1. In accordance with the stipulations of the General Regulations, which is mutatis mutandis applicable in the case of postgraduate diploma study, the permission of the Dean is required for concurrent registration, subject to the regulations applicable to the fields of study in question and to any other stipulations the Dean may prescribe. Such a concession may be withdrawn by the Dean if the student does not perform satisfactorily – all assignments and coursework must be completed on time. Concurrent registration will not be accepted as a reason for poor performance or not meeting deadlines for both study programmes.
2. In the case of registering concurrently for two study programmes in the School of Health Systems and Public Health and elsewhere, students must obtain the written consent of both the coordinator of their current programme and the coordinator of the second programme (or the track co-ordinator in the case of the MPH), and submit it with a substantiating letter to the School's Academic Programme Committee, for recommendation by the Chairperson of the School, after which the application is submitted to the Dean for approval.
3. The School of Health Systems and Public Health states that concurrent registration for two study programmes is a privilege and not a right.
4. Concurrent registration must be applied for annually and is granted based on academic performance in the primary degree/diploma programme. If the current field of study is a master's degree, then the second field of study can be a postgraduate diploma.
5. If the current field of study is a postgraduate diploma, then the second field of study can be another postgraduate diploma.

Core Modules

• CDC 777: Principles of communicable disease control (Credits: 10.00)
• CDC 778: Seminars in tropical health (Agent) (Credits: 10.00)
• CDC 779: Seminars in tropical health (Environment) (Credits: 10.00)
• CDC 780: Seminars in tropical health (Host) (Credits: 10.00)
• CDC 784: Tropical health examination (Credits: 0.00)
• CDC 785: Case studies in tropical medicine and health (Credits: 30.00)
  • Module content: Six case studies that involve either clinical cases or public health cases (such as outbreaks or other public health scenarios). The cases will be presented online, one every 6 weeks, during the second year of the diploma. The scenarios will be accompanied by questions that will require desktop research and thought as well as a mastery of the materials learned during the first year, in order to answer the questions well. Each case study will be worth 5 credits and an overall mark will be provided for the six case studies. A detailed study guide will be provided online.
• CDC 786: Research report (Credits: 30.00)
  • Module content: This is a research report consisting of a case series of a group of three patients with a specific infectious disease; or an infectious disease theme. The cases are selected and written up to illustrate an important clinical principle or report on or to demonstrate a variation in presentations and/ or treatment responses etc. The series must "tell a story" and offer insight rather than merely recording the clinical details of the disease episodes (although such documentation is required as part of the report).
• CDS 771: Clinical tropical medicine (Credits: 5.00)
• CDS 775: Investigating outbreaks (Credits: 10.00)
  • Module content: Students will learn how to investigate and determine the cause of a disease outbreak for both when the disease in question is known and when the disease in question is unknown. They will learn how to use appropriate study designs and to calculate attack rates and odds ratios in order to investigate outbreaks. They will learn how to write outbreak investigation reports.
• PHM 778: Learning in public health (Credits: 5.00)
  • Module content: Special introduction to fundamentals in Executive Leadership in health. The emerging student will be taught the fundamentals in executive leadership in healthcare systems which will form the basic platform or foundation for understanding the challenges for application of leadership modalities at the different levels of healthcare service delivery in the public health service and how to begin to think and analyse how the principles of executive leadership at their level of appointment can improve health service delivery.

Minimum Credits

Minimum credits: 120

Duration and NQF Level

• Minimum duration of study: 2 years
• Total credits: 120
• NQF level: 08